The War of Love
by WakingUp2Roses
Summary: Joe and Miley are happily married & have Parker who's seven, and Bea who's a baby. Nick is Joe's best friend and when Joe goes to war, Nick helps Miley with the children. Nick is in love with Miley & her feelings get stronger every day. Rated M.
1. Preface

PREFACE

MILEY'S P.O.V.

I let out a loud sigh as I sat up in my large king sized memory foam bed before taking off the dark blue fluffy comforter. Hearing the sound of the shower coming from the master bathroom, I giggled quietly before slipping in and taking off my red silk tank-top nightgown, I stepped into the shower, my husbands back towards me. To be honest, I don't even think he knew that I was here. He was probably caught up with his thoughts. In four hours, his plane would be taking off. He'd be leaving us. Off to war. Again. Smirking, I wrapped my petite arms around his muscular stomach and kissed his neck passionately making him moan.

"Mmm, Mi," he chuckled before turning around and smiling down at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed. Looking into my blue eyes, he saw the crack in my heart, and his face dropped. He could see into my soul and I could see into his, that was the thing with us, we could read each other like a book.

"I'm fine," I whispered giving him a slight smile, but I knew he wouldn't buy

it. Why would he? How could he? How could I be okay? My husband was leaving, to go risk his life for our country. Sure, it wad honorable, but it was also as scary as hell.

He shook his head before putting his forehead on my bare shoulder, "I'm sorry," he whispered placing a chaste kiss on my skin and then another, making his way up from my shoulder and to my collar bone before kneeling down and kissing my breasts until he kneeled down and made his way down my body with kisses. As he got to my center, I moaned, my body tensing in the process, "oh, Joe," I whimpered. To be honest, I was sore from making love the entire night, but he was leaving, I wanted to spend every second I could making love to him. He'd be gone for a year. Twelve months. That's a long time. A very, very long time. As we kissed, and touched, and showed each other how much we cared for and loved each other, I knew we both had the same thought in our minds. This could be the last time we make love to each other.

After we bathed and soaped each other clean, I laughed before pulling him to the bed before straddling his naked body, his hard eight inch boner still visible. Sitting on his manhood, we both moaned as he slid into my tight walls. Putting my hands on his chest, I smiled as he held my hips. I started to ride him and move up and down. Looking into each other's eyes, he gave me a begging expression. So, I increased my pace making him yell out in pleasure. Looking at the clock for a second, which read six o'clock, I rode him faster, Bea would be up in two hours and so would Parker.

A few minutes later, I collapsed out of him, our breaths hot and fast as we

tried to catch our breaths after making love for the twelfth time in the past

twenty-four hours.

"I love you, Mile Ray Grey," Joe whispered as he caressed my tan skin.

I nodded lying my head moving up and down his chest, I was lying on top of him while my legs still startling him. "I love you too, Joseph Adam Grey," I

whispered, my voice cracking as tears fell silently from my eyes.

A silence filled the air. It wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. Well, as

comfortable as it could be. I shook head, my stomach tying into knots; I knew what he was going to say next. I didn't want to hear it. "Don't," I whispered.

"You know I gave to," he replied.

I held his hands tightly, "you'll come back," I said in a hopeful, yet lost and terrified voice.

"And if I don't, I want you to move on. Find anoth-"

I scoffed before shaking the tangled mess of curly brown locks that were on top of my head, "you know that there's no one else that I want," I argued, my heart breaking even more. He always did this, every time he left for war, the whole "move on" speech. It was pathetic, wasn't he aware that he was the only one for me?

"I want you to be happy, Miles," he sighed, his voice no louder than a mouse's peeps.

"And I am. I am happy. With you and our children and if you die, I will take

care of the children, but I will never move on. I love you too much," I mumbled hovering over his face, looking down into his dark brown eyes.

Joe made me sit up, the sheet being the only thing that was covering me, and ran his hand down my back, "I know, Miles, I love you too, but if you love me, you'll move on.

"How can you think it'd be so easy?"

"I don't, but I just want you to know that if anything happens to me and you

fall in love again; I don't want you to feel guilty for moving on."

I nodded in understandment, trying hard not to roll my eyes; I'd never move on if he died, he was my everything.

"By the way, Nick is just a phone call away," he explained, "if you need

anything, he promised me he'd help you out."

I smirked. Nick. Joe's side kick. The two were pretty much inseparable and

because of that, Nick and I were...friends? No, not quite that. I mean, we got along, but we weren't that close. We were acquaintances. He was really helpful when Joe was gone. He'd pick them up from school or take them to doctor appointments, but like I said before- we weren't that close.

"Flight 374 to New Orleans is ready to board," the woman at the flight desk

spoke.

I looked at Joe with tears in my baby blue eyes before kissing his lips

passionately for a few moments before pulling away. He kissed my forehead and

sighed before pulling away, both of us opening our eyes.

"I love you," I reminded him for the millionth time that day.

He nodded, "I love you too." He smiled before taking our ten month daughter out of my arms and holding her. His eyes were so bright and yet so dull at the same time, I couldn't imagine how he was feeling. "Goodbye Bea," he smiled before kissing her cheek, "you're so beautiful. You look like your mom," he chuckled. It was true, she was beautiful. She had my eyes, but her daddy's smile. She had my long curly brown hair, but her daddy's nose. She was the perfect mix between Joe and me.

"Daddy," our seven year old pleaded in a red shirt and a red baseball cap with black shorts, "you don't have to leave," he said, "you could stay here with mommy and Bea and me and Nick and grandma and grandpa and-" he sighed knowing that his suggestion was no use.

I cringed when I saw Joe's face. He looked terrible, guilty, disheveled,

heartbroken. He kneeled down to the height of Parker, our baseball loving

daddy's boy, and hugged him tightly, "I'm sorry, Parker," he apologized before whispering something into his small ear. Joe stood up after Parker nodded his head. Looking at his mother, he hugged the tearful woman tightly, kissing her cheek, he gave her a slight smile, "I love you."

"I love you too, Joseph," Denise smiled; she kissed his cheek before pushing him lightly over to his father who he hugged before pulling away.

"Take care of yourself, son."

"I will, dad," he nodded before looking at his brother, Kevin.

They hugged speaking to each other too quietly for me to hear, the only thing I did hear was Joe's last word he said to him. My name. Miley. Kevin nodded sighing while watching Joe walk to Nick.

"Don't worry man," Nick smiled, "I've got everything under control here. You

just work on getting home safe, yeah?"

"Alright," he chuckled before giving him a short hug, "just make sure she's

happy, okay?"

"I promise, I'll do everything in my power to make her happy," he smiled

slightly l, "to make them happy."

"Thanks, man," he said graciously.

"Flight 374 to New Orleans is ready to board," the blonde woman repeated into

the microphone.

"See you all soon," he smiled before walking up to me, "this isn't goodbye," he whispered before holding both sides of my cheeks and kissing me as if it was the last time we were going to see each other. I prayed that it wasn't. As he pulled away about a minute later, he shut his eyes painfully before wiping my years away, "I love you," he muttered, "last night was amazing...and this morning," he whispered into my ear chuckling. He kissed my cheek, "here," he said giving me a small box.

"Here," I smirked giving him a small box. It was tradition. Every time he went

back to war, we'd put small boxes together for each other filled with pictures, letters, and sentimental things.

I kissed his lips before watching him walk onto the plane with bags in hand. He

turned around and smiled at me while waving. Then, he turned around, and walked

into the plane. I let out a sob. My heart felt like it had just been ripped out.

Feeling strong arms wrap around my arms, I looked up and saw Nick looking at me,

"we're gonna get through this, Miles," he nodded at me, "one way or the other,

everything will be fine. It'll all work out," he said trying to comfort me.

JOE'S P.O.V.

As I walked onto the plane, my heart was gone. Left behind with Miley. Miley, a small smile came to my face as I thought of my incredible wife. My beautiful wife. My amazing wife. I could go on for hours, days even, talking about how amazing Miley was. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, no heart. When you're in the war, you can't feel. I'd you do, it's an almost guaranteed death. Feeling means caring and both feeling and caring are weaknesses on the battle ground.

As I sat in my seat, I opened the box and smiled seeing a picture of me, Miley, Bea, and Parker. We were at the beach, Parker was sitting in between Miley and I and Bea was sitting in Miley's lap. Big smiles were slapped onto our faces. Perfect was the only way to describe the photo.

"You have a beautiful family," the lady next to me who looked around sixty and very wealthy smiled at me.

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Did you just leave them," she asked noticing my army uniform.

I nodded, "for a year," I said in a disappointed tone.

"Wow. Well, thank you for serving our country."

"Of course," I laughed, "it's our children's future, right?"

Looking back at the box, I took out a small piece of paper that was lying next to a bigger letter. It read: Don't worry, Joseph. Nick will help take care of us. Please just concentrate on getting home safely. -M

I sighed, I was going to lie, I saw how Nick looked at Miley, and it made me worry. He looked at her as if HE was her husband, but the thing was, I was her husband. And now, I was leaving her, and my children, with him. Sure, I loved Nick, he was my best friend, and I'd left them with him before, but the way he looked at me, and at her, this time, it was different. It was like he'd do anything to be with her. I was thirty-two, they were twenty-nine. He was twenty-nine and still single, it made me worried. What exactly was going to happen when I wasn't there? How far would Nick take it to get Miley as his own? Would I have a family when I got back or would Nick have taken my place? Only time would tell.

A/N: Yay! Okay, so this is the start of my new story. From all of the votes,

this was a popular one. I'm going to do Opposites Attract after Getting Back to Where We Were ends in a few weeks. This story will get better, I promise, this was just the preface. You know? The introduction. Please, please, review. Your reviews make me happy and will help me to update faster. SEE NO MORE MUSIC VIDEO COMES OUT TODAY! Who likes Joe's new music? I do. It makes him even sexier.

Thanks for reading! :)

NileyFanForever


	2. Chapter 1: Obvious Secrets

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to TheMsBrandy1 (FanFiction) AKA xRadiatingLovex (Twitter). She is one of the strongest people that I know, even if she doesn't think she is at times. Her writing is incredible; go check it out if you haven't, follow her on Twitter too! She did something really courageous this week and I am so proud of her. She's also helped me through so much. Thank you, Brandy! Love you! Now, on with the story. :)

CHAPTER ONE-AN OBVIOUS SECRET

MILEY'S P.O.V

The warm sun hit my face as the morning birds awoke me from my peaceful dreams that were filled with thoughts and memories of Joe and of his letter to me. Slowly, I opened my eyes and sighed when I looked at the side of me only to see the tan soft sheets and an empty, untouched navy blue covered pillow. No Joe. No husband. I was alone. Turning to look at the clock, I noticed it was six in the morning and so I stretched and got up. Walking into the master bathroom, I took a shower and got dressed for the day before going to Parker's room. I was wearing a pair of white jeggings, black flip flops, and a black dress shirt. My hair was down and natural in its long brown curls.

My heart broke as I saw my little seven year old boy sleeping peacefully with a picture of his father in his arms. He looked so serene. So innocent. Kneeling down to be on the same height as he was, I shook him lightly.

"Parker," I called out quietly, "Parker, it's time to get up and get ready for school, bud."

He groaned.

"Come on sweetie," I exclaimed in a hushed tone, "time to get up."

He opened one of his brown eyes and groaned. Sitting up groggily, he wrapped his arms around me, "good morning, mommy," he smiled.

"Good morning, sweetie," I smiled, rubbing his back. He was in his red Power Rangers pajamas that he had gotten for Christmas about a half a year ago. "Hey, sweetie? Can you please do me a favor and get dressed for school?"

He nodded and walked over to his closet to pull out a new pair of boxers and to get his private school uniform off of its hanger.

I kissed his forehead and walked out of the room. Going downstairs, I made myself a cup of coffee and started making lunches. Hearing a car door shut, I went to the window and saw a black and blue Mustang, Nick's car. Correction: one of Nick's cars. I smiled and opened the red door of our large white house.

"Hey," I greeted with a light smile on my face, "how are you," I asked as the sharp looking business man pulled me into a hug. He smelled good, like Abercrombie calone, the same calone Joe used. Of course they would use the same calone...I swear, they're having a bromance. Nick had on dark blue skinny jeans, a black shirt, and a red-orange untied tie lying on his shoulder.

"I'm pretty good," he smiled pulling away after a few moments and coming into the house, "how are you?"

"Stressed," I laughed lightly, "Parker has to be at school in," I looked at my diamond watch and sighed, "twenty minutes and Bea has to be at daycare in an hour."

"Why don't I take Parker off your hands? Has he eaten yet," he questioned voluntarily.

"Nick, you have to go to work, we can't make you late."

Nick shrugged chuckling quietly, "whose record company is it again," he asked rhetorically. It was his. He owned the hottest record company in the world. He worked with the hottest bands, the biggest movies, and the top ten global producers, which included him, were all employees at Lucas Records.

"Thank you," I sighed relaxing a bit, "he hasn't had breakfast I was just about to make it," I informed running my hands through my long brown curls.

Parker walked down the stairs with his backpack in his hands and fully dressed with his hair gelled back and his navy blue uniform with red tie and black dress shoes on. I sighed shaking my head. "Since when could you dress yourself," I asked proudly.

"Mom," he giggled, getting in a defending stance, "I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Yeah, 'mom'," Nick teased putting his hands on his hips, mimicking Parker, "he's not a little kid anymore."

I laughed at the two goofs and smiled.

"I'll take him out for breakfast. We have enough time," he told me handing Parker his lunch that had been resting on the gray marble counter.

"Okay, thanks," I graciously replied, "Parker, can you go get your sports bag, please," I asked nicely before watching him run up the red carpeted wooden spiral stair case and up to his room.

I smiled humbly at Nick, "thank you," I said again, "you're such a big help."

"No problem," he shrugged, "Joe's not here and you need some help, you know I'm here for anything that you need, but right now," he laughed giving me his tie, "I need your help, please."

I laughed, taking the material from his hands, "what is it with some guys? Why can't tie their own ties," I teased. Standing in front of him, I put the tie over his neck. I looked into his brown eyes teasingly, but he was looking into my eyes so affectionately that it scared me a little, but made me sweat a little too. What was this? We were stuck, looking into each other's eyes with tender gazes. I was breathless and so was he.

"Got it," Parker yelled walking into the kitchen with his baseball bag on his shoulder.

We both jumped at the call from my son and broke eye contact, our hearts both pulsating. Well, at least mine was. I quickly tied his tie and smiled up at him, "there you go."

"Thanks," he muttered before pulling me into another hug. I wrapped my arms his arms that were wrapped around my waist. We stayed like this for a few moments, my head on his shoulder and his head on mine.

I pulled away and walked them to the door. I kneeled down and engulfed Parker in a tight motherly big and kissed his cheek, "you be good for Uncle Nick, okay? And at school today?"

He nodded hugging me back with his small arms, "okay, mommy," he nodded. After kissing my cheek, he walked out of the house with Nick.

"I'll bring him home after baseball practice," Nick told me before looking into my blue eyes one more time and shutting the door.

I leaned on the counter and sighed, "what was that," I asked myself. Had my heart really skipped a beat for Nick Lucas? Could Joe be right? Walking upstairs, I picked out an outfit for Bea to wear today, a pair of pink cloth pants and a white and pink tank top with Sleeping Beauty on it with pink sneakers. Waking her up, I dressed the half-asleep two year old girl and carried her downstairs.

Sitting her in her blue high chair, I put her bib on and poured out some Cheerios for her to eat. I giggled quietly to myself as I watched her snap a Cheerio into her mouth. Packing some snacks in a bag for her, I finished my cup of coffee and checked my phone and made sure that Demi and I were still on for breakfast at Starbucks. Soon, Bea was buckled into her car seat in my black Prius and I was pulling out of my driveway. After dropping Bea off, I made my way to Starbucks.

"Hey," Demi greeted with a large smile on her face, "how are you?"

I sighed, wrapping my arms around her neck and hugging her tightly, "I miss him," I cried, "I miss him so much it hurts and it's only been a day."

"Oh, sweetie," she exclaimed rubbing my back, "it'll be okay. He'll come home soon, he will. And for now, you can be with your kids and you have me and Nick and your family and the rest of our friends."

"Yeah," I nodded, "thanks, Demi. I love you," I sighed before pulling away and sitting down. "And speaking of Nick," I took out Joe's letter and showed it to her.

Dear Miles,

I don't want to write this letter because I don't want to say goodbye, but we both know that I have to go and fight for our family, for our country, for our future. I'm going to miss waking up next to you every morning, holding you in my arms, kissing you, making love to you, but I will never stop loving you. I have faith in you that you'll take good care of Parker and Bea and get everything done and don't forget, you can ask anyone for help. Everyone is here to support you. I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyways, I want you to be happy, that's the most important thing to me. If I don't come home, I want you to move on. Be happy, Miles. Have someone who loves you and the kids take my place, not replace me, but take my place in your life and in theirs. Even if it's Nick. I'm not saying that it is, but I see the way he looks at you. Even if he is my best friend, I know how he feels about you. Anyways, I love you and I want you to be happy, but wait for me, okay? I'm sorry that I'm leaving you again, but I'll be back.

I love you,

Joe

"That was just one of his letters, but yeah," I nodded, "like what the heck does that mean?"

"What the heck does what mean," Demi asked confused, "the Nick part?" I nodded my head and she laughed, "are you serious?"

"What?"

"He looks at you as if you were a Greek goddess," she giggled quietly, "that boy is head over heels for you. You've really never seen how much he loves you?" I shook my head.

"No, because he doesn't," I shot back a little annoyed.

"Did something happen?"

"Well..." I told her about our unbreakable stare this morning and how he unexpectedly showed up to take Parker. Her jaw dropped.

"So do you have feelings for him?"

"No," I said shaking my head. I held up my left hand and pointed to the large diamond ring, "I'm taken, remember? You were there. You were my maid of honor."

"I know," she said, "I didn't say it was right, I asked if you had feelings for him."

"No," I laughed shaking my head, "I am madly in love with Joe."

Hearing Demi's phone vibrate, she groaned as she read the new text message, "I have to go. Madison needs me," she sighed before shaking her head, "Frankie forgot to pick her up for school today...again."

"Did he pick Noah up?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "if he had forgotten to pick up his girlfriend, he would've been sort of kinda really screwed," she laughed before kissing my cheek and waved before leaving. Collecting my things, I soon left too, making my way to work with two pairs of matching eyes in the back of my head, Nick's and Joe's.

A/N: Okay, so? How did you guys like the first chapter? I really liked how it turned out. I don't want Miley to start developing feelings for Nick yet, you know? But maybe a little Niley is okay, like in this chapter, but not too much yet. It'd be unrealistic. The next one or two chapters will focus on Nick and Miley's friendship growing stronger and Demi will be really important as well. If you read my bio, you may understand why. Just sayin. :) Thanks for reading this and all of the incredible reviews and alerts! I feel so unbelievably blessed! I love how I can show my writing to all of you and get such great feedback from it. Thank you so so so so much. It's incredible. My writing techniques and ways of writing have really changed since I started on FanFiction just a few months ago. If you have yet to go and check out Demi Lovato's new single called "Skyscraper" please, go check it out! It's amazing. I'm putting a thing about that up on FanFiction very soon. That song really hit home for me. So yeah, please review, tell me what you think of the story so far and also please tell me how you feel about Demi's new song! :) DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2! I saw the premiere of it at midnight. :) God bless and have a fantastic week!

Please go check out my collab with CaliforniaSunshineInMyEyes! Our collab is called "Letters To You."

Twitters:

LovaticsDream

NileyJyrusHope


	3. Chapter 2: Time

Time. That's what I had. I had time. Time to finish producing this CD for the mega-hit pop sensation Cody Simon, not a lot of time for that, but enough. I had time to steal Miley's heart-to be exact, I had eighteen months- a year and a half. Yes, I'm aware how terrible I am. She's my best friend's wife, but the thing is, when you love someone as much as I love her, there are no limits. I would do anything to get her and if that anything was waiting? Well, that's what I'd do. It may sound cheesy and cliché...okay, it does sound cheesy and clichè, but honestly, when I'm with her, it doesnt feel like gravity's holding me to Earth, she is.

Something happened in the kitchen a few days ago, I know it did. She got lost in my eyes and well, as usual, I was drowning in the southern belle's ocean blue eyes. I knew what I had to do. I had to help her out, get to know her more, flirt a little, and wait. She'd come running into my arms. Hopefully.

Looking at my desk, I smiled at a picture Miley and Joe had given me for a Christmas present. A picture of Miley, her long brown hair blowing in the wind, Joe, a large smile forming on his face as the camera flashed, Parker, his little league baseball cap on his head, Bea, a pink and white bonnet on top of her head as she wrapped her small arms around Miley's neck, and me, I stood next to Joe, my arm casually wrapped around his neck and a smile was slapped onto my face. It was taken at the beach house last summer. The sunset behind the five of us was beautiful, a deep orange color. The waves moved and the horizon stretched. The picture was unbelievable, almost as if it had been torn from a fairytale book where everyone lived happily ever after.

I sighed and looked back to my computer; it was two in the afternoon. Weather I was done in an hour or not didn't matter. Either way, I had to leave work and go pick up Parker from practice, but that was okay. Parker and I had a very interesting relationship. At first, when he was little, it was very clear that he did not like me, but now, it seemed as if he couldn't get enough of me, but I guess that that was good; it meant that I didn't have to suck up to the kids, they already knew me as a role model and "Uncle Nick".

I sighed and continued to work on a track from a new artist who had come into the studio a few days ago. The song was slow, a ballad, about being yourself and going for what you want, it hit home for me. Not because of Miley, well, a little because of her, but she wasn't the only thing I thought about or ever had in my life. Once, I had the girl, the money (which I still have), the car, the house, and I thought that my life was perfect. I was twenty-one and thought I'd have the whole family and wife by now, but Joe started to slowly hate me and I didn't know why. Little did I know, until I found my girl in our bed with another guy, I was slowly loosing myself, becoming someone else. Someone who was selfish and arrogant. Cold. I shivered just thinking about it, I was so ashamed of that time in my life. Joe helped me get back on my feet after the whole thing with Nicole, the girl who I found in bed with another guy, and then, I met Miley, and she made me want to change even more.

An hour passed quickly and I still wasn't done with the song. I sighed and put my laptop into my briefcase. Saying goodbye to my assistant and the other producers and workers, I walked out to my car and got in. Driving down the road, I made a few turns and within twenty minutes, I found myself in the parking lot of Parker's school. Walking to the baseball field, I leaned my arms on the fence & watched the practice finish through my sunglasses.

"Alright, Parker," the coach called out, "you're the last one to go, so them how it's done, bud," he smiled. Throwing the small white ball to the seven year old in batting position, I smiled proudly as I watched him hit it with all the force and power he could. The ball whizzed into the outfield and the outfielders ran for it. They got it, but Parker was already at third base.

"Great job," the second coach cheered clapping his hands, "alright, guys, group up!"

The elementary school seven and eight year old boys all ran over to the coaches in their grey baseball pants and blue and green jerseys and matching hats. The coach gave them a recap, some pointers, and news of the next game and they went their separate ways. Parker ran over to me and smiled.

I patted his back and laughed, "great hit, man!"

"Thanks, Uncle Nick," he smiled taking a sip of water out of his white water bottle.

We got in the car and I made sure his seat belt was on in the back. Our conversation on the way to his house was about his school day and the game this weekend that I promise I'd go to. Arriving at the large house, I opened his door, after getting out myself, and we walked into the house.

Miley was in the kitchen cooking dinner and Bea was sitting in a high chair playing with her rattle... Seeing us walk in her face lit up and she clapped her hands.

"Bea," Parker smiled walking over to her, "how's my sister?"

She giggled and tilted her head while looking at her older brother, "Na Na!"

I smiled and walked over to Miley, "need some help," I asked putting my hands on her waist for a second. My stance was close behind her's and I felt her let out a sigh of relief. She turned around and smiled.

"Hi," I said hugging her.

"Hi," she replied hugging me back, "how are you?"

I pulled away and smiled, "good, you?"

"Completely stressed," she said running her hands through her hair.

I sighed and nodded, "go rest."

"No," she rejected, "I can't leave you here to deal with everything."

"Miley, it's fine, really. Please go get some rest, you've got big bags under those beautiful eyes of your's," he laughed.

She sighed, "I am really tired...are you sure?"

"Absolutely," I nodded, "go get some rest."

She smiled and looked into my eyes before walking upstairs to get some rest. Picking up the spoon, I stirred the spaghetti and checked the spaghetti sauce.

"Hey, Parker," I called out when I heard the television go on, "I do believe you've got some homework to do in your bag, bud."

He groaned, "I'll do it later."

"Parker, homework, now, please."

He turned the television off and went to the dining room table. Taking out his green take home folder, he took out his homework and started figuring out the problems.

Once dinner was ready, I set the table and went to wake Miley. Going into her room, I saw her lying there like a beautiful angel. Sitting on the side of the bed, I started to rub her back, "Miles, dinner's ready." She opened her eyes and looked at me, her eyes blinked a few times slowly and I smiled at her, "dinner's ready," I repeated.

She nodded and I stood up. Putting her arms out, I helped her up, "thanks," she smiled.

"No problem," I put my hand on her back and we walked downstairs. Pulling out her wooden dining room chair, I waited until she sat down and pushed it in, "why thank you, Nick," she smiled.

I sat next to her and smiled, "talk to Joe lately," I asked curiously.

The dim light in her eyes went out and she looked so sad and lost. My face cringed a bit as I watched her try to keep herself composed. She shook her head, "I haven't heard anything. He's probably busy, you know?"

I nodded and put my hand on her's lightly, she looked up at me, "it's gonna be okay, Miley."

She smiled and nodded, "I know."

Miley turned to Bea and fed her her baby food; something like chicken and peas. Baby food, eww, it was chicken and peas, but it looked like apple sauce. I couldn't imagine why one would ever want to eat that, but she looked adorable so I put it behind me.

Parker looked at me confused and I laughed, "what?"

"Well, after dinner, can you play catch with me in the back yard? I have to work on my pop flies."

"If it's okay with your mom," I smiled.

"Parker, it's already 7:30," Miley said in a motherly voice, "maybe Uncle Nicky could practice with you tomorrow instead."

He looked down disappointedly and sighed, "okay."

"I'll check your homework after you're done though," I said smiling at him, "and I'll read you a chapter of Harry Potter before you go to bed."

"Yes," he cheered smiling widely.

I laughed and we ate dinner. Afterwards, I checked over his homework and helped him with problems he was stuck on or things he had gotten wrong. Then, he went to his bedroom and got changed into his pajamas and a few minutes after that, I went in and read him a chapter of the book we started the night Joe left; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I'd already read the rest of them aloud to him.

Once the chapter was done, I smiled and rubbed his back, "go to sleep, okay?"

He nodded.

I went over to the door and turned the light off.

I was half way out the door when he sighed, "is mommy going to be okay?"

Smiling, I nodded, "she'll be fine, Parker, she just misses your daddy."

"I do too," he sighed.

"So do I," I admitted. Miley came in, unaware of our conversation, and kissed Parker's cheek, "goodnight, sweetie, I love you."

"I love you too, mommy," he smiled kissing her cheek. The little boy fell asleep and Miley and I went to the living room.

She sat on the couch and I sat next to her, "sit up," I told her, she looked at me strangely, but moved to the edge of the couch. Putting my hands on her back, I gave her a back massage and she moaned- making my body go insane.

"That feels so good, Nick," she laughed quietly.

I moved my hands to different locations on her back and attempted to make her as relaxed as I could. She let a tear fall once I was done and I turned her to face me. Wiping the water mark away, I sighed, "it's going to be okay, Miles. I promise."

She nodded, "I just really miss him."

"I do too," I sighed.

Miley shook her head, "I get that he wants to fight for our contort, but it's so hard and it stresses me out and I'm having you do too much and-"

"Mi, whatever you need, I'll be there," I smiled.

She nodded and cried into my chest. Eventually, she fell asleep and I carried her up to her room for more comfort. Kissing her forehead and caressing her cheek, I sighed and left, unaware, but hopeful of what the future held.

**A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded this story in awhile, but here's another chapter- not the best, but I've been thinking and I know exactly where I want this story to go, I just have to get there. How many chapters in do you guys think that there should be more Niley? Again, I wanted to do just hints of it in this chapter so that it wasn't just like BOOM, but I wanted to show how Nick felt about everything and reflect his role in Parker's life. Anyways, please review and I promise to update quicker next time! :) Thank you so much for reading!**

**QUESTION: What's your favorite song on Demi Lovato's new album Unbroken?**


	4. Chapter 3: She's Not You

He rang the door bell and fixed his silver tie nervously. Nick had on a black tux, and was taking Miley to the party of the year, hosted by Miley, of course. It was for her fashion company. She'd been working on it diligently for the past few weeks, the kids were with the Greys, Joe and Nick's parents.

The blue eyed beauty opened the door and smiled at Nick excitedly, "hi," she smiled. She was wearing a silver dress that had one sleeve, leaving the other arm bare. The floor length dress hugged her curves in all the right places, and to complete the outfit, she had on black heels and minimal makeup. She wore a blue sapphire diamond necklace around her neck and matching earrings. Her long brown hair was towards the side, cropped into a side pony tail.

Nick's jaw dropped for a second, "w-wow," he laughed lightly, "Miles, you look so beautiful."

Biting her lip lightly, she smiled, "thanks. You know, you don't look too bad yourself there, handsome." She wrapped her arms around his arm and they left in a long black limo to the venue.

Nick couldn't believe what he was doing; he kept thinking he was going to wake up from this dream in a few moments. He never wanted it to end though.

"Hey, Nick," Miley said as they arrived at the party, "thanks for coming with me. I know Joe would if he were here, but I'm glad you came with me."

"I glad I did too," he kissed her hand and exited the vehicle when the door had opened. He helped her out and then they started to walk the purple carpet. Cameras flashed and the paparazzi were calling out to them. They stopped and talked to a few interviewers, but then proceeded to head in.

Nick put his hand on the small of her back, "for the record," he smiled, "I'm glad I came with you too. Though, I'm sure Joe would think you looked beautiful."

She laughed and some of her acquaintances glided across the room in their gown and suits to come and talk with her. Little fits of laughter erupted from her mouth as she saw the strange looks people have to Nick. They knew that that wasn't Joe and Miley knew that by tomorrow, there would be rumors about her cheating.

Just friends. That's all they were. Just friends. Who were secretly hot for each other. (Or hot in general, it'd been a few weeks since both of them had gotten laid, more for Nick than Miley.)

A waitress wearing a black and white suit with a red bow came over, "champagne?" They graciously took one for each of them and thanked the waitress before walking away.

One of Miley's favorite songs came on and she gasped excitedly. It was a slow song; a few couples were making their way to the dance floor, and so she took Nick's large, warm hand with her smaller one and grinned, "let's dance."

"I have two left feet," he warned as she led him to the dance floor.

She wrapped her arms around his neck once they got there and gazed into his eyes, "then follow me. Okay, so, put your hands on my hips."

The curly haired man did as he was told and put his hands on her hips. His heart started racing and his body heated, "like this?"

She nodded and started slow dancing, "now, just follow my steps."

He nodded and within a few beats of the song, he was getting the hang of it. Miley laughed lightly, "great job, Nicky."

He chuckled and shook his head, "only my three favorite people can call me that. You, Bea, and Parker."

She smiled lightly and her stomach fluttered,  
>"I'm one of your favorite people?"<p>

"Of course," he chuckled, "you're probably my favorite person."

"And what about Joe?"

"Yeah, he's up there too," he laughed.

They danced for a few more songs and Miley taught him some other moves for faster music. There was about two hours left of the event, but Miley was tired from all the dancing they'd done in the past hour. She had an idea.

"Come on," she laughed. Taking his hand, they quickly left before anyone noticed their departure.

"Where are we going," he asked.

Miley thought about it for a few seconds, "my office?"

Nick cocked his head in confusion, "we're not at your building."

"Actually," she laughed, "we are. I bought it the other day. We're a bit crammed over at the other building. Plus, we can have or offices and then parties here too. A lot easier."

He nodded and followed her to her large, stylish office, his brown eyes darted around, "nice place."

"It's not done yet, I know. I just have a few more things to do and th-"

"Am I one of your favorite people?"

Miley blushed lightly and wrapped his arms around his neck, "of course you are, Nicky. You're amazing. You're always there for me and the kids, and you want nothing in return. You're incredible."

Nick shook his head, "I'm not though," he wrapped his long, muscular arms around her petite waist.

"But you're modest. You would say that."

He shrugged, "I'm not incredible, Miley. I-" he stopped himself. He was going to tell her that he loved her, but he stopped himself. Why? Because his biggest fear was rejection. If she had told him no, he had absolutely no idea what's he do.

Miley sat on the black leather couch with Nick. She rested her head in his lap and kicked her shoes off. Letting out a relaxed sigh, she let all the worries escape her thoughts, "why don't you have a girlfriend," she asked playing with the hem of her dress.

Nick shrugged, "I haven't really had the time to go out and find someone," he half lied.

"Now, Nicholas," she scolded laughing lightly, "don't lie."

He shrugged, "I-I don't know, Mi. It's complicated."

"Nick, I've never known you to have a girlfriend at all. A date, one nighters...sure, but I mean..."

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Because, Nick, you deserve to be happy, you don't need to be sitting around and taking care of me and the kids all the time, I mean you work and take care of us, that's it."

"So? I love work. I love my job and I love taking care of you, Parker, and Bea, it doe-"

"But you deserve a woman who you can come home to every night and wake up to in the morning."

He shrugged, "you guys are enough."

"Nick? Are you scared of dating," she asked, "are you worried that you'll get your heart broken?"

"No," he said quietly, but he thought about it and looked up at her, her makeup had worn off to almost none and you could tell from the wrinkles under her eyes that she'd days crying herself to sleep, probably because of Joe, Nick thought, "yes. Yes. That's part of the reason why I don't date. I don't want to get my heart broken. If I hated dated anyone, my heart would break...because she's not you."

Miley looked at him, her bright blue eyes wide with shock, "what?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"Nick, you've already started talking. What do you mean? 'She's not me'?"

"Haven't you always wondered why I'm so good to you and the kids?"

"No. I just figured that you were a nice guy who wanted to help out your best friend's family."

"A-And yeah, you know...that's part of it, but ever since college," he shrugged, "ever since the day we met..."

"Nick, stop," she snapped quickly standing up.

"Mi..."

"NO! Nicholas, NO! Okay? I'm married. I'm your best friend's wife."

Nick stood up and put his hands gently around his wrists, "Mi."

"No! Let me finish! I don't know what happens in the kitchen when you come to pick the kids up and I tie your tie, I don't know why I got butterflies when we were dancing, but that's okay because some things are supposed to be just left alone! Like this Nick! Us! It's not going to hap-"

He cupped her face and kissed her lovingly and with much passion. She moaned lightly and kissed back, their lips colliding, shaping together, coming together like puzzle pieces.

Pulling away after a minute, she slapped him, "go, Nick," she cried, "just go!"

He gulped and scurried to the door after grabbing his coat, "I'm sorry, Miley. I still love you." He quickly left and shut the door behind him, his heart racing as if it were running a marathon.

Miley clutched her twisted stomach and sat on the coach crying. She didn't understand what had happened. Nick loved her. They'd kissed. She missed him. But why? She had no idea. She wondered if it was because she missed Joe, but she knew very well that the reason was much bigger than the longing she had for her husband's touch. It had something to do with the longing she had for Nick's touch too.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATENESS! I wanted to get this up before the Holidays, but everything has just been so hectic, I hope you can all understand. OMG, NILEY KISS! 0_0! I just wanted to thank you all for the incredible reviews :) They mean a lot to me. It's an incredible feeling to know that someone is reading your writings. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, more drama to come, don't you fret! I also hope that you all had an incredible holiday season. I pray that everyone in Japan is okay too, the 7.0 earthquake is DEFINITELY NOT how I would've liked to ring in the new year.


	5. Chapter 4: Exhaustion

It'd been three weeks since she'd seen him and she was suffocating. With work, brining the kids to school every day, picking them up, going to all of Parker's games and picking him up from every practice, she was exhausted. Sleep deprived, actually. If she wasn't working or being a parent, the blue eyed mother was up fretting and stewing about something. She knew she was wrong; she'd cheated on her husband. Nick had been avoiding her, and she knew why. She had led him on in a way. She hated herself for it. All Miley wanted was someone. Anyone. Whether it be Joe or Nick, fine. She just wanted someone to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

It was two in the morning. She was just sitting in bed, with the light on, zoning out. Tears ran down her cheeks as she clutched a pillow, wishing it had arms to hold her back with. She went to Bea's room and picked the sleeping toddler up. The little one stirred, but rested her head on Miley's shoulder and was once again sleeping like a rock. Miley brought her to her and Joe's room and laid them down. She turned off the light and silently cried herself to sleep while holding her favorite little girl. Bea lifted Miley's spirits a bit, she couldn't understand how someone so little, someone who wasn't even able to comprehend most things was able to be so precious and perfect, but she was. Miley envied her. She wished she could be that little again. And stay that little. No worries, barely any fears, just there, happily playing with her toys and sucking her thumb. Hell, if she had even attempted to suck her thumb, people would look at her funny.

Her eyes slowly closed and her body fell limp with sleep. Bea snuggled in closer to her and let out an adorable yawn, clutching onto her mother's black sleep shirt with her tiny hands.

Later on in the morning, Nick sighed and entered the house. Not seeing anyone up, he went upstairs and saw Parker sleeping in his room. He smiled and let him be. Going to Bea's room, he got a bit nervous when he didn't see her. The twenty nine year old cocked his head in confusion and slowly and quietly opened the door of the master bedroom and saw his two favorite girls lying on the bed. One was sleeping soundly and the other was looking at him with a big smile on her face.

"Nicwy," Bea whispered happily. Nick walked in and gently took her out of her mother's embrace and picked her up, he walked out of the room and downstairs.

"Hi, beautiful," he smiled.

She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hungry," he asked walking to the kitchen.

She giggled and shook her head, "nooooo."

"No? Okay. Want to watch Mickey when Uncle Nicky makes breakfast for everyone?"

She nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Nick let out a chuckle and kissed her cheek.

"I missaded wu," she said looking down, the waterworks started and the heartbroken man cringed with guilt.

"I missed you too," he held her close and the little blue eyes girl wrapped her arms around Nick's neck.

"How's mommy been?"

Bea shrugged, "Otay," she shrugged, not knowing what to say. She pointed the couch the living room and stomped over to it after Nick had out her down.

Nick sighed & turned Clubhouse Disney on. He went to the kitchen and started cooking some breakfast. Generally, everyone would be up by now, it was nine in the morning, but it was Sunday so he just let them sleep in. They'd miss church, but he knew how tired Miley and Parker must've been, especially Miley. He didn't want to stay away, but what else was he to do? He couldn't possibly face her after their quarrel and kiss at the party. It was just impossible.

Parker groaned and slowly opened his eyes as he smelled the heavenly aroma of bacon. Running downstairs, he saw Bea in the living room laughing at the TV and sitting on her knees on the couch, wearing her pink Cinderella night gown. He walked over and she squealed as she saw him.

"Pawka," she greeted reaching her arms out. The brown haired bed headed little boy smiled and picked her up.

"Hi, Bea," he smiled, "how's my favorite sister?"

"Dood," she giggled patting his hair down, "Messy Messy!"

He laughed, "you have 'messy messy' too."

"Nooooo," she laughed.

Parker put her down and fixed his Motor Cars pajamas before kissing her cheek and going to see who was making breakfast.

He gasped, "Uncle Nick!" His little feet dashed over and hugged him tight.

Nick chuckled and hugged him back, "hey, bud. How are you?"

"Hungry."

"Well, I'm making your favorite," he smiled before tending back to the pancakes and bacon.

"Smells sooo good," he gushed.

"Thanks, why don't you go watch cartoons with your sister?"

"Okay," he ran to the living room and sat next to Bea. She crawled into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

Miley walked down the stairs wearing her dark purple silk bathrobe that ended a few inches above her knees over her black silk lacy night gown. She smiled at the children and kissed their cheeks. They smiled up at her.

"Hi, my babies," she smiled.

"Hi, mommy," they said back in unison before turning their heads back to the cartoon.

She let out a small tired laugh and went to see what was going on in the kitchen. Her eyes landed on one of the men that she couldn't seem to get off her mind and she froze. Turning around, he looked at her nervously before walking over to her. He wrapped his strong arms around her and she let out a relaxed sigh as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized.

She just shook her head, "don't be. It's my fault."

"No, I'm sure you didn't mean to lead me on," he sighed.

"But that's the thing, Nick. I didn't. But I just can't get you off my mind and it scares me because you're not my husband."

He pulled his head away, but kept his arms wrapped around her, he looked into her eyes to try and catch even a hint of humor, but saw nothing.

"I don't know what this is and I don't know if what I'm about to say is okay at all. Actually, I know it's not okay, but here are the facts: Joe hasn't written or called in over five weeks, he's not going to be home for about a year more, and you're here and I'm here."

His mouth dropped as he tried to comprehend her words.

"So, maybe we should test the waters now and deal with the consequences later."

Their eyes met again and Nick leaned in closer to her and the next thing she knew, Nick had crashed his lips onto her's. She kissed back and combed her fingers through his hair as she wrapped an arm around his neck. They stayed like this for a few moments, wrapped in each other's embrace and sharing an intimate kiss. Then Miley pulled away slowly and smiled lightly.

"Are you- Are you sure? I mean..."

"Don't explain this to me. That's not at all a good idea. I know how wrong this is, but it feels right too, you know?"

He laughed, "Mi, I've been dealing with these feeling for ten years. I know exactly what you're talking about."

She laughed lightly and scrunched up her nose taking in the smell of the kitchen, "pancakes are burning."

"Oh right! I'm cooking," he laughed, just remembering.

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. She watches him take off the burnt pancakes and let out a loud, pure, true laugh. Something she hadn't done since the time that Joe left.

A/N: Yes? No? I don't know! I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter; I hope you guys liked it. You guys have been saying that you just really want them to get together so I did just that. I'm just not sure if it was too soon or not. Hmmm I'll sleep on it and read the reviews about it. Also, I revised the last chapter because I realized that I said Nick and Joe were siblings and they're not. They're just best friends. I hope you guys have a great week and I'll try to update soon! :) Thanks for reading!

Peace. Love. Niley.


	6. Just Checking In

Hey guys,

I know I haven't updated in a really long time, I'm sorry. I had massive writer's block, I was lazy, and I had a lot going on at home. If I started this story back up, would you guys read it?

Depending on how many responses I get to this, I'll try to update within the next week, but I'm not sure if this story has any fans left.

Please let me know!

Thanks!


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